The flood of news, financial, political and other informational television programs has generated an ever increasing demand to utilize on-air experts, such as investment bankers, lawyers, and politicians. The presence of these experts adds credibility and an in-depth analysis of a given topic that is not otherwise possible.
Traditionally, for this interview to occur, the expert is forced to travel to the television studio of the television show that is interested in interviewing this expert. This involves costs for the television program, and an inconvenience for the expert. For example, the expert would have to travel to the studio, where they are prepared for the interview through hair and makeup, and appear on camera. They then travel back to their office. Often, experts appear without monetary compensation, as the publicity associated with being on-air is considered compensation. For many corporations, the publicity is not worth the lost time and expense associated with visiting a studio. In addition, such an arrangement does not allow for real-time analysis of time-sensitive events, such as breaking news, corporate mergers, or political reaction, as the experts need time and sufficient notice to travel to the studio.
To solve this problem, remote control studios have been created. In such a studio, there may be a camera, a zoom lens system, pan/tilt capability, an audio package, studio lighting package and, in some cases, an interruptible fold back system to allow the experts to hear questions from an interviewer. In some cases, a TV monitor, a VCR or DVD player may also be present. As a further enhancement, a backdrop system can be added using a large television or video monitor. Different images may be displayed on the screen to provide different backdrops, including daytime and nighttime city skylines and company logos. These backdrops help give the remote studio a more professional look on air and are an advancement over the more conventional backgrounds previously used.
In the case of a remote control studio, the video feed travels through a TV1, 270 Mb or 1.5 Gb fiber optic circuit to the long distance video carrier POP. Typically, the signal travels via fiber optic cable to the technical operations center, although satellite transmission is also possible. The communication infrastructure required to transmit the video feed from the remote studio to the control location may be expensive. The fiber-based long distance transmission model involves a high installation cost, high monthly recurring cost and modest per-usage cost.
In addition, the control of the camera and studio is typically at a location different from that receiving the live video feed. This control location may have dedicated equipment in order to control the camera, which may be very specialized. In addition, such equipment may only be able to control one camera at a time. Therefore, to control two cameras simultaneously, it may be necessary to have two complete sets of control equipment.
It would be beneficial if the current one-to-one control of the remote camera could be eliminated. In addition, it would be advantageous if less expensive means were available to deliver the video stream from the remote studio to the distribution site.